Ticketing Fees in Canada, Explained

1. The platform fee

This is what the ticketing company charges for its software: your event page, checkout, ticket delivery, check-in tools and reporting. It comes in three shapes:

• Flat per ticket. The same amount whatever the ticket costs. Bloom charges $0.75 CAD per paid ticket. Ticket Tailor charges $1.00 CAD per ticket on pay-as-you-go, or less if you prepay for credits.
• Percentage plus a fixed amount. Eventbrite charges 3.5% + $1.29 per ticket in Canada. Showpass charges 1% + $0.59 on its Essential plan and 2.5% + $1.69 on Professional.

2. Card processing

Visa, Mastercard and the banks take a cut of every card payment. Most platforms run on Stripe, which charges about 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction in Canada. A few details matter:

• Per order or per ticket. On Bloom, Stripe's $0.30 is charged once per order, so a buyer who picks up four tickets pays it once. Showpass applies its 2.9% + $0.30 per paid item.
• What the percentage is charged on. Eventbrite's 2.9% processing fee is calculated on the whole order, including its own service fee and tax.
• Refunds. Card processing fees generally aren't returned when you refund an order, so a refunded ticket can still cost you something.

3. Tax on the fee

A platform fee is a taxable service. Bloom adds GST/HST (and QST in Quebec) to its own fee, as other Canadian platforms do. On Bloom's $0.75 that's about 4 to 11 cents depending on your province. If you're registered for GST/HST, you can usually claim it back. This is separate from the sales tax you may need to charge on the ticket itself. Our Canadian event ticket tax guide covers that.

What a $50 ticket really costs

Here's one $50 ticket with the fees absorbed by the organizer, using each platform's published Canadian pricing as of October 2026:

Before tax on platform fees. Eventbrite's processing is 2.9% of the order with no fixed amount; the others use 2.9% + $0.30.

Now look at a more typical order: four $50 tickets in one checkout.

The gap widens as tickets get more expensive. A flat fee stays the same on a $150 VIP ticket, but a percentage fee keeps climbing. Our flat-fee vs percentage breakdown runs the numbers across ticket prices and event sizes.

Absorb or pass on?

Every major platform lets you choose who pays the fees.

• Pass fees on and the buyer sees the ticket price plus a fee line at checkout. You keep your full ticket price. Card processing is then charged on the larger total, so the fee line is slightly more than the table above.
• Absorb fees and the buyer pays exactly the price on the page. This can feel friendlier, but it comes out of your revenue, so build it into your price.

Other fees to check before you sign up

• Monthly or annual plans. Bloom, Eventbrite's standard pricing and Showpass's Essential and Professional plans have no monthly fee. Some platforms charge a subscription to unlock features.
• Feature tiers. On Showpass, tracking links, add-ons and seating charts are on the Professional plan. On Bloom, every feature is included at $0.75.
• Add-ons and merchandise. Bloom charges 3% on add-on sales such as parking, drink tickets or t-shirts, with no per-ticket fee on them.
• White-label branding. Ticket Tailor charges extra each month to remove its branding. Bloom's logo doesn't appear on your event page.
• Door sales. Selling at the door can have its own pricing. Eventbrite charges C$1 per ticket plus 2.9% processing for card sales through its Organizer app. See how to sell tickets at the door.
• Payout timing. On Bloom, money is paid out through your own Stripe account as you sell (typically 2 to 7 business days), not held until after the event.

How to keep more of every ticket

1. Price with fees in mind. Decide whether you're absorbing or passing on fees before you choose your ticket price.
2. Encourage group orders. On per-order processing, four tickets in one order cost less to process than four separate orders. Volume discounts help.
3. Avoid percentage fees on high-priced tickets. VIP and multi-day passes are where percentage fees hurt most.
4. Check the plan you actually need. A low headline rate doesn't help if the features you need are on a pricier tier.
5. Sell repeat guests directly. Bringing back past attendees through email and followers costs nothing in ad spend.

Want to compare platforms beyond price? Read our Eventbrite alternatives in Canada roundup, or try Bloom's savings calculator.

Frequently asked questions